Services > Drinking Water Testing

To demonstrate compliance with the New Zealand Drinking-Water Standards 2000, water suppliers need to monitor the quality of their drinking-water by taking water samples and having them analysed. The Ministry of Health requires all such testing to be performed by laboratories that have appropriate skills and quality assurance procedures.

These laboratories, each with a specified list of tests, are recorded in the Register of Ministry of Health Recognised Laboratories.

International Accreditation New Zealand manages this Register on behalf of the Ministry, using a special copy of the Water Information New Zealand (WINZ) database. Any changes to the Register are uploaded to National WINZ at ESR, and from there are made available to all WINZ users.

Scope
The scope of application of the Register is restricted to:
1. Laboratories that test drinking water from a community drinking water supply for the purpose of grading water supplies i.e. those laboratories that contribute or intend to contribute (either directly or indirectly) test results into the WINZ database.
2. Tests or determinants which are detailed in the Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand (against which community drinking water supplies are graded).

Tests of water for any other purpose are outside the scope of this programme. Accreditation for such tests can be sought under the IANZ chemical and/or biological testing programmes.

Registration Criteria
Laboratories will be listed in the Register once they have been assessed and demonstrate compliance with either: